Lightning fend off Rainmen again

In front of 3,250 fans at the John Labatt Centre, the Lightning strengthened their grip on top spot in the National Basketball League of Canada by dumping Halifax 111-94 on Thursday, marking their fourth victory in as many meetings with the second-place Rainmen.

"For me, it’s very clear right now they are a better team than us," Halifax coach Josep (Pep) Claros said.

"They were better than us, much better than us, making good decisions. Also, our intensity was not at the level that it was supposed to be when you play against this team with a lot of experience."

MVP candidate Gabe Freeman led the Lightning with his 20th double-double of the season, scoring 23 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Shamari Spears added 18, including a dozen in the fourth quarter as London pulled away for the win.

Justin Johnson nailed his first seven shots, including six three-pointers, to top Halifax with 22 points. Joey Haywood had 21 and Taliek Brown had 14.

The Rainmen led only three times — never by more than two points and never for more than a couple of possessions in the second quarter. But they managed to stay close, thanks to 11-for-26 shooting from three-point range, until some of their miscues finally caught up to them. London went on a 12-1 run midway through the fourth to open up a 20-point gap.

"We didn’t play well at all," Claros said, reciting some of their shortcomings. "I mean, 27 turnovers, 15 out of 28 free throws, you lose by 17, you missed 13 free throws."

London improved to 19-5 while Halifax slipped to 14-6, with three of their four losses to the Lightning coming in London.

The Rainmen coach, who has emphasized all year long the importance of improving as the season progresses, downplayed the losses to London.

"This is just one more game. . . . We’re going to lose more games too. We just need to be solid, we need to be intelligent and have patience and know how to play against them next time.

"We’ll see when we meet them in playoffs if they are the same level than us because I can tell you that we’re gonna be a much better team."

London outscored Halifax 28-19 in the first quarter, with Johnson keeping the visitors in the game by going 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.

The six-foot-six shooting guard maintained his torrid shooting in the second period, dropping his first three attempts, including a pair of treys, and Halifax used a 9-0 push to knot the score at 34-34 five minutes in.

After three lead changes, a Brown free throw gave Halifax a 41-40 lead — its last of the game — but former Rainman Rodney Buford closed out the quarter by scoring nine of London’s final 10 points, sending the Lightning into halftime up 50-43.

In the third, the Rainmen clawed back again to tie it at 60-60 on a Lawrence Wright triple four minutes in. DeAnthony Bowden answered on the Lightning’s next possession, though, to restore London’s lead and Halifax never got back on even footing again.

The Rainmen trailed 79-74 going into the fourth quarter and were down by seven before London’s surge that began about 4½ minutes in finished them off.